Meghan Endres Brown

A darkly funny high-stakes suspense play about sibling rivalry, quantum physics, and the terrifying power of a good story.

Disgraced physicist Holly has arrived in rural Oregon to fulfill her mother’s dying wish: pick up her Bigfoot conspiracy theorist sister Alyssa and transport her back to San Francisco for one last family Thanksgiving. But combative Alyssa refuses to leave the woods until she sees the Big Guy himself, setting off a sequence of escalating events that unearth a lifetime of simmering resentments… and put the sisters’ lives in jeopardy.

With government leaders getting poisoned left and right, the Tasters have an important job — eating delicious, gourmet meals, and then waiting to see if they die. When rebellious Taster Elyse goes on hunger strike, she kicks off a series of events that will change the course of history… while putting all of the Tasters’ lives in jeopardy. In her sharp, energetic new play, Meghan Brown (The Pliant Girls) explores the nuances of political resistance, self-interest, and individual action creating hope in the face of hopelessness.

Being dead can change your life. 

After the virtuous Hero of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing is accused of wanton behavior and ditched at the altar, another false rumor spreads: the rumor of Hero's death. Hidden away in the maid's quarters, Hero is desperate to clear her name so that things can go back to normal... until some unexpected encounters reveal that being dead might be the best thing that could've happened to her life. 

Winner of the 2014 Ovation Award for Playwriting of an Original Play

Help us, save us, please! Fifty blood-stained brides seek refuge after murdering their husbands on their wedding night, but no one's eager to take them in. As Kay, Leta, Arianna, Courtney, and Philomena beg for their lives, their stories form a complex tapestry of contemporary sisterhood… and provide insight into the deaths of the men who stood in their way.

In turns heartbreaking and hilarious, this feminist retelling of Aeschylus's The Suppliants is a haunting exploration of love, sexual politics, and the power of redemption.

Max K. Lerner Fellowship Winner
Semifinalist for the Princess Grace Award

When Maggie calls in a favor, shut-in Chelsea can't say no. Besides, how hard is it to switch bags with a stranger at the bar, especially when you don't know what's inside? But when Maggie's boyfriend Billy shows up looking for the missing bag, the night takes a dark turn, forcing Chelsea to call into question everything she thought she knew.

The Kill-or-Dies is a darkly comic exploration of friendship, love, and the heart rates of hummingbirds.

Book and lyrics by Meghan Brown
Music by Sarah Taylor Ellis (http://www.staylorellis.com)

Being a teenage girl is hard: every party, every grade and every kiss can feel like a life-or-death event. But being a teenage girl possessed by a demon, with the forces of the radical matriarchy and repressive patriarchy fighting for your very soul? It’s a lot harder. A darkly funny rock musical with heart, humor… and demons.

Shine Darkly, Illyria picks up where Shakespeare's Twelfth Night leaves off. Now that everyone's conveniently married off... what happens? The play focuses on the complex relationships between Olivia, Viola, Orsino, Sebastian, Mariah, and Sir Toby Belch against the backdrop of a wholly original Illyria. The Illyrians live in the moment, worshiping the Moon (a beautiful girl on a pole, spinning around and around) at their nightly moonparties. When the Moon summons the Countess Olivia for a dire prediction about Illyria's future, Olivia's too strung out on moondust to give the warning much thought. As the storms intensify and the island's fate appears more and more precarious, the Illyrians have a choice: evolve or die.

Lyrics by Meghan Brown
Music by Ben Toth

A fifteen-minute song cycle, originally performed by Tony Award-winner Lindsay Mendez at Lincoln Center's IN NEED OF MUSIC; THE SONGS OF BEN TOTH. (Full video here: https://vimeo.com/136122003)

Emma Goldman was an anarchist who fought first and foremost for the freedom of bodies. In 1892, Emma was startled by news of a lockout and strike at the Carnegie Steel Company. Industrialist Henry Clay Frick had discharged all union members and begun evicting families from company houses in Homestead, Pennsylvania. So it was against this backdrop that Emma and her lover Sasha (aka Alexander Berkman) hatched a plot to assassinate Frick.

Leading up to this excerpt, Emma has procured the money needed for Sasha to buy the gun he'll use to kill Frick -- most likely being killed himself in the process. In a letter to Sasha, she considers the ramifications of sending him the money.

At once funny, poetic, and achingly human, Meghan Brown' characters navigate worlds both surreal and prosaic in these four one-act plays. In this collection, two would-be lovers find themselves caught in an endless loop of things left unsaid, a young girl on the cusp of adulthood stays stubbornly human as the rest of her small town turns animal, a furious Ophelia is reunited with Hamlet after 800 years in a Purgatory aquarium, and a clairvoyant dreamer explores the limitations of her own future.

In turns heart-wrenching and hilarious, this collection includes "Jack's Last Night in Town," "Birds," "Ophelia," and "This Is Happening Now."

A year after her sister Natalie's disappearance, Molly and her boyfriend Graham arrive at her last known location -- a creepy apartment filled with strangely realistic mannequins, including one that looks suspiciously like Natalie. The apartment is inhabited by the mysterious Patrick, whose intuition borders on the supernatural. As the night wears on, Molly is forced to face some terrifying realities... and begins to question who she can really trust.

Performed in “haunted” living rooms across L.A. (including Jim Morrison’s Laurel Canyon mansion, Charlie Chaplin’s house in Beverly Hills, and Dr. Horrible’s lab), The Gypsy Machine is a psychological thriller with a twist.

60 mins. Set in a surreal afterlife that moves seamlessly from outer space to a 1920’s speakeasy to a run-down Van Nuys apartment, The Fire Room follows the story of J.W. and Meredith, two ghosts who have managed to find True Love amongst a sea of Died Alones. When Meredith’s volatile ex-boyfriend shows up after his earthly death, Meredith must make a choice: fight for the love she deserves, or give in to the toxic pull of the familiar.

An audience favorite, The Fire Room is a “superlative slice of Fringe” that examines love, sex, death, and the power of a good story.

Finalist for the Princess Grace Award

As Peter's family unravels below him, he finds himself increasingly drawn to the attic, where he's visited by a vision of the mythical character Psyche. A darkly humorous examination of betrayal, obsession, and the redemptive power of love.

Ever been stuck in traffic on the way to an audition while wearing an Alf mask? This play is for you. 60 comedic vignettes focusing on living, loving, and hating Los Angeles.

A furious Ophelia is reunited with Hamlet after 800 years in a Purgatory aquarium.

A young girl on the cusp of adulthood stays stubbornly human as the rest of her small town turns animal.

A new musical adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel.

Emma Woodhouse, handsome and clever and rich, amuses herself by matchmaking for her friends - until she meets her own match. Is opening herself up to the possibility of romance worth the sacrifice of her independence and control? With a fresh book and soaring score, this timeless contemporary adaptation of Jane Austen's novel explores the necessary risk of feeling your feelings.

The libretto for The Discord Altar was inspired by interviews with people affected by and/or working within the homeless community. The cast of seven operatically trained singing-actors presented 12 full-staged performances with the musical score newly improvised each night.